Combating Thoughts

Due to a three-day endeavor during the week of November 10th through the 13th, I have come to realize a great deal of things. One of which being that my problems could always be worse. The people I was with those three days all had it worse than I did. Secondly, I have been taught that no emotional reaction to a situation comes without a provoking thought. Our brains process situations at a tremendous speed that is generally overlooked and creates the misconception that situations, circumstances, and events cause emotions, where in reality, it is the thought that races in our minds that create the emotions. Have you ever been cut off while driving and gotten so angry that you just lose it? Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't the fact that you got cut off that made you mad, it was that being cut off caused you to think, "That guy/girl is such a jerk. I am mad! He could have killed me!" etc., and those dissected thoughts are what caused your emotional reaction of anger or rage (road rage, to be specific). When we become aware of this fact, it becomes possible to control our emotions previously believed to be uncontrollable. Thirdly, my coffee shop dream outweighs most other thoughts in my mind. A thought that would put me in a situation where I would become unable to start Narrow Way would be fought off by my strong desire to one day make that dream into a reality. Your mind will fight itself. It's like an immune system: an alien, infectious, or damaging thought is placed in our brain. In reaction to that, our brain sends positive, supportive, and good thoughts to combat the bad thought(s). Our brain protects itself without our knowledge.

A secret to controlling your thoughts is something psychologists call the three step process: 1) Is the thought based on fact? 2) Will the thought help me do what I want to? and 3) Does the thought make me feel the way I want to feel? If any of these question's answers come out as no, the thought is a bad thought and needs to be changed or discarded. I write this entry specifically to three people in my life that I know could use the advice as much as I did. The Bible says in Psalm 18:16-20, "He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me." Our God is not one to leave us alone in our struggles. Many times I have lost sight of that fact, and many times He has brought me back to the narrow way.

I want to reach out to all those hurting in one way or another, giving them some tools to help fight the negative thoughts in their minds so that they can understand how to create only the emotions they want to feel instead of being controlled by their emotions. Thank you all for reading. I will continue to write more than I have been. God bless.